Station Road was a stadium

Stadium

A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...

 in Swinton

Swinton, Greater Manchester

Swinton is a town within the City of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England. Located on the A6 road it stands on gently sloping ground on the southwest side of the River Irwell, and within the bounds of the orbital M60 motorway. It is west-northwest of Salford, and west-northwest of Manchester...

 (actually in Pendlebury

Pendlebury

Pendlebury is a suburban town in the City of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies to the northwest of Manchester city centre, northwest of Salford, and southeast of Bolton....

), near Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

. England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It was the home of Swinton Rugby League Club

Swinton Lions

Swinton Lions is an English professional rugby league club from Swinton, Greater Manchester. The club has won the Championship six times and three Challenge Cups. They currently play in the Championship.-Early years:...

 between 1929 and 1992 and was widely recognised as one of the finest grounds in the Rugby League

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

.

Swinton moved to Station Road when they were at their peak, having won all four major trophies the previous season. The decision to purchase the land, which stood alongside the railway line and Swinton railway station

Swinton (Manchester) railway station

Swinton railway station serves the town of Swinton and Pendlebury in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England.Swinton is one of the local stations that lie on the Manchester to Southport Line between Wigan and Manchester...

, was made after a breakdown in negotiations with their existing landlord at their Chorley Road ground, their home since 1887.

International Venue

In its heyday it boasted a capacity of 60,000, although with a record attendance of 44,621 for Wigan

Wigan Warriors

Wigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....

 vs Warrington

Warrington Wolves

Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....

 in the 1951 Challenge Cup

Challenge Cup

The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....

 semi-final this was never really tested. All in all 19 international

International

----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...

s (including 15 test match

Test match (rugby league)

A Test match in rugby league football is a representative match between teams representing members of the Rugby League International Federation.The definition of a Test match differs from that of an international match...

es), 5 Championship finals, 17 Lancashire Cup

Rugby league county cups

Historically, British rugby league clubs competed for the Lancashire Cup and the Yorkshire Cup, known collectively as the county cups. The leading rugby clubs in Yorkshire had played in a cup competition for several years prior to the schism of 1895...

 finals, 4 Premiership

Rugby League Premiership

The Rugby League Premiership was a competition for British rugby league clubs that operated between 1973 and 1995. As the Super League Premiership the competition continued to operate until 1997....

 finals and 30 Rugby League Challenge Cup

Challenge Cup

The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....

 semi-finals were played at the ground. In addition two World Cup matches were played at Station Road.

----
1960 Rugby League World Cup

1960 Rugby League World Cup

The 1960 Rugby League World Cup was the third staging of the tournament and the first Rugby league World Cup to be held in Great Britain. The same format as used in 1957 was used, with a group stage leading to a final table....

Britain's comprehensive victory over the French at Swinton was marred by the first double sending-off in World Cup annals, France's skipper Jean Barthe

Jean Barthe

Jean Barthe , was a French rugby league and rugby union player.-Rugby union:Jean Barthe started his career in FC Lourdes which he won three titles of French Champion, for 1956, 1957, 1958 and one Challenge Yves du Manoir. He earned his first cap with the French national team on 29 July 1954 against...

 and Britain's second-rower Vince Karalius

Vince Karalius

Vincent Peter Patrick Karalius was an English professional Rugby League World Cup winning and coach who forged a fearsome reputation both as a strong runner of the ball, and as a devastating tackler.-Club career:...

 being despatched by Edouard Martung, a police inspector from Bordeaux.
----
1970 Rugby League World Cup

1970 Rugby League World Cup

The fifth Rugby League World Cup was held in Great Britain in 1970. Britain, fresh from defeating Australia in the Ashes, were hot favourites, and won all three of their group stage games. All the other nations lost two games each, and Australia qualified for the final largely on the back of an...

Britain eliminated New Zealand from the tournament, cruising to victory with five tries to three.
----

List of GB matches played at Station Road

Date	Result	Competition
1930	Great Britain 0-0 Australia	Test Series
1933	Great Britain 19-16 Australia	Test Series
1937	Great Britain 13-3 Australia	Test Series
1947	Great Britain 7-10 New Zealand	Test Series
1948	Great Britain 16-7 Australia	Test Series
1951	Great Britain 20-19 New Zealand	Test Series
1952	Great Britain 21-5 Australia	Test Series
1955	Great Britain 25-6 New Zealand	Test Series
1956	Great Britain 19-0 Australia	Test Series
1959	Great Britain 15-22 Australia	Test Series
1961	Great Britain 35-19 New Zealand	Test Series
1963	Great Britain 12-50 Australia	Test Series
1965	Great Britain 17-7 France	Test Series
1965	Great Britain 9-2 New Zealand	Test Series
1967	Great Britain 3-11 Australia	Test Series

Also five England internationals were played at Station Road

Date	Result	Competition	Attendance
4 January 1930	England 0-0 Australia	Test Series	35,000
16 December 1933	England 19-16 Australia	Test Series	11,000
13 November 1937	England 13-3 Australia	Test Series	32,000
23 February 1946	England 16-6 France	European Championship
12 October 1946	England 10-13 Wales	European Championship	20,000

Vandalism & closure

Fire damaged the disused main stand including offices and function rooms in July 1991, this was the last in a series of vandalism before the club moved out of Station Road. Station Road was sold at the end of the 1991–92 season by the club's directors to David McLean Homes for property development part of the deal involved sponsoring the Lions in their first season post Station Road. The last match to be played at Station Road was a local derby verses Salford

Salford City Reds

Salford City Reds are an English rugby league club based in Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1873, they currently play in the Super League. They have won six Rugby Football League Championships and one Challenge Cup...

 on 20 April 1992 with 3,487 witnessing Salford winning 26-18 and Ian Pickavance of Swinton

Swinton Lions

Swinton Lions is an English professional rugby league club from Swinton, Greater Manchester. The club has won the Championship six times and three Challenge Cups. They currently play in the Championship.-Early years:...

scoring the last try. The site is now a housing estate.